SPRINGFIELD - Democratic leaders refused to release details Monday of private deals that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has struck with lawmakers in an attempt to piece together a new state budget.

They said the "memorandums of understanding" generally commit the state to providing funds for social services, such as college scholarships and after-school programs for the needy.

Lawmakers began demanding Blagojevich put his promises in writing last year amid growing mistrust of the first-term governor. The memos spelled out agreements on a wide range of issues, from restricting the governor's authority to money for projects in lawmakers' districts. They included $29 million in special grants, many of which went to groups with political ties.

This year's memos were key to lawmakers passing a major part of the Democratic budget plan Sunday - cutting payments to government pension systems.

The memos will be released eventually, aides said, but there was no guarantee that would happen before lawmakers vote on a new state budget.

Republicans said the memos should be made public before any budget vote.

"They're going to influence what goes on, and we'd like to know what people got for their votes on this legislation," said Rep. Terry Parke, R-Hoffman Estates.

Meanwhile, another piece of the state budget fell into place Monday as lawmakers voted to renew a plan that allows Illinois to capture hundreds of millions of dollars in federal health care money.

The governor and Democratic legislative leaders are trying to put together the final details for a roughly $53 billion budget. They want to vote on the spending plan by midnight Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, the vote requirement jumps from a simple majority to three-fifths, meaning nothing can pass without Republican support.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said she did not have details on the contents of the memos, which she said had not been completed. She said they generally commit the state to maintaining various social services, such as after-school programs for at-risk children.

She did not know when they would be released but said any agreements would be reflected in the budget legislation lawmakers vote on.

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, gave a similar description of the memos' contents.

He accused the GOP of trying to divert attention from their lack of contributions to writing a new budget. Republicans are the minority in both chambers of the Legislature.

"They're attempting - very poorly, in my opinion - to make something out of nothing," Brown said.

Last year, Republicans and Democrats alike signed memos spelling out exactly what Blagojevich was promising in exchange for support on the budget. The memos - along with an additional $20 million that legislative leaders carved up - awarded special grants to groups, some of which had made more than $2 million in campaign contributions, according to an Associated Press review.

Also Monday, Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, a likely Republican candidate for governor next year, called for the attorney general to rule on the legality of the plan to cut pension funding. The plan passed by a simple majority Sunday, but she says it increases state debt and, therefore, may fall under a constitutional provision requiring a three-fifths majority.